Jan. 24, 2001
Box Score
By DONNA TOMMELLEO
Associated Press Writer
STORRS, Conn. - It came down to composure. Villanova had it, Connecticut lost it.
Michael Bradley had 20 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Wildcats to a 70-59 win over No. 24 Connecticut on Wednesday night, the Huskies' fourth straight loss.
Bradley was there to counter just about every UConn run, which were few. The Huskies shot a season-low 33.9 percent and struggled against Villanova's box-and-one defense.
"We just had to keep our composure. We fought back," Bradley said. "We knew they were going to try and make a run, we just wanted to cut it down."
Both teams stumbled into Wednesday's matchup. Villanova (12-5, 4-2 Big East) had lost three of its last four games.
"We were dying for a win, period," Villanova coach Steve Lappas said. "To win on the road here against this team, that's even more beneficial to us."
The Huskies (13-6, 2-4) were trying to avoid its first 2-4 conference start in 11 years.
They didn't.
"This wasn't part of a slump, just an awful, awful, performance by us," UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. "This is clearly the low point of our season."
It was the Wildcats' first win over UConn in the last five meetings and the Huskies' first home loss of the season. This is UConn's worst losing streak since dropping the last five regular season games in 1996-97.
Villanova shut down Albert Mouring, UConn's perimeter specialist, after the first six minutes of the game by switching to its box-and-one. Mouring had openings early against Villanova's zone, but then found himself shadowed after that. He didn't score in the second half.
"It's a junk defense. It's something you can use for a couple minutes here and there and it just worked tonight," Lappas said.
UConn was 5-of-11 from the field over the first 5 1/2 minutes and took a 13-7 lead. Mouring scored eight points, including two 3-pointers, in the run. The Huskies went stone cold after that and missed their next five shots.
"Defense was a problem for us, offense was a problem for us, looses balls on the floor were a problem for us," Calhoun said. "Villanova worked very hard. The same can't be said for us."
Villanova took advantage of that slump and countered with the 10-0 run. Bradley had consecutive three-point plays to cap the spurt and give the Wildcats a 17-13 lead. UConn regained the lead briefly at 25-24 on Taliek Brown's layup at 4:02. Bradley's layup at 2:46 put the Wildcats back on top for good and Villanova finished the half with a 10-2 run to take a 34-27 lead.
"I go out there every day and try to play as hard as I can," Bradley said. "Today I was getting the offensive rebounds and getting those guys in foul trouble early."
Bradley, a 6-foot-10 Kentucky transfer, had five points in the Wildcats' 11-4 run to open the second half. Villanova led by as many as 15 points twice and the Huskies could get no closer than seven in the final minutes.
"He was a monster on the glass," Lappas said. "I like to see him get 15 rebounds in a game like he can."
Caron Butler led UConn with 14 points, while Souleymane Wane had 11 points and 14 rebounds.
The Huskies are in danger of dropping out of the Top 25 for the first time in 67 straight polls.
Butler was hard-pressed to come up with a solution to the Huskies' woes.
"If I could, we would have won the game tonight," he said.
